In pursuit of Self Expression

Art in Urban Spaces

While growing up in urban Nairobi, I particularly remember longing for Sundays as there always
were activities in the social hall such as the weekly Talent Shows where estate children showcased
their talent. Years down the line the Nairobi City Council reposed these robust social halls and
either turned them into welfare spaces or offices rented out to the corporate sector. Sadly, some
halls were closed up and as a result shutting down a huge source of co-curricular endeavors for so
many young minds across the divide.

Creatives Garage is part of Africa’s burgeoning, youthful, creative and innovative community; we
acknowledge that creativity and innovation are significant facilitators of economic growth across

the globe. Moreover, we recognize as well as attribute creatives who are making a positive impact
in our society.

In the recent past, Kenya has seen the rise of an actively vibrant creative scene which can be
attributed to phenomenal works by creative entities such as Creatives Garage, The Nest, Penya

Africa, Pawa 254, The Godown Arts Centre, The Alliance Française, Kuona Trust and Kwani Trust.
These spaces are homes to many artists and have been instrumental to the birth of a new breed of
innovators and creators within Kenya. Also, these social spaces pave way for collaborations by
fellow artists, training and workshops and not forgetting showcases or exhibitions which play to
invite consumers of these works.

Musicians such as Sauti Sol, Sarabi, Juliani and H_art The Band have achieved international
acclamations because of the eco-system and opportunities presented to them by some of these

organizations. These art hubs have also offered residency programs offered to visual artists such as
Michael Soi, Peterson Kamwathi and Maggie Otieno thus providing a platform for them to thrive.
However, all this comes with its unique set of challenges for these creative organizations. Some of
the threats these organizations face is lack of funding, lack of proper management systems and now
an issue of ‘Freedom of Expression’ which is highly misinterpreted and not forgetting misused by
local authorities.

Freedom of Expression is understood as a multi-faceted right that includes not only the right to
express, or disseminate, information and ideas, but three further distinct aspects:

The right to seek information and ideas;

The right to receive information and ideas;

The right to impart information and ideas

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold
opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any

media and regardless of frontiers.

I would like to paint you a picture of Nairobi’s creative scene: The Nest were located about 50
meters away from a police station before they recently moved, Pawa 254 is located about 2

kilometers from State House while Creatives Garage and Kuona Trust are deeply entrenched in
Nairobi’s leafy suburbs. This translates to the fact that the level of noise that is omitted by these
hubs is not tolerated by their neighbors or general environs. Licenses obtained from the Nairobi
City Council dictate that one MUST pay a fee every time there is noise coming from their space or
building. This fee is at $20 per day and it’s not a guarantee that you will get the license considering
you have to present a letter of approval from surrounding neighbors; who are mostly angry or
displeased by the motive behind such approval and a letter of consent from a nearby police station.
However, it is good to add that such a letter can only be handed to you after you have bribed the
police officers substantially. The lesser of two evils in dealing with these permits would be to
declare your space as being an entertainment and bar outlet by applying for a liquor license which
not only further limits your operation from 1700 hours to 0000 hours but you still have to “talk
nicely” to the city council for the approval of this license.

A myriad of questions arise from the facts above: what happens to artistes and musicians who need
to rehearse? What happens to creatives looking for that one opportunity to showcase their talent in

front of a multitude of people with the hope of being discovered and nurtured? What happens then?

Recently, we have seen the rise of Corporate giants occupying and rebranding public spaces such as
the Sports stadiums around Nairobi. What does this mean for creatives who used to use these

spaces for self expression? Are these spaces still accessible for concerts as they once were? Are
these spaces pro-self expression or are their fine prints on the contracts restricting what form of
self expression should be expressed? Are these spaces reasonably priced/subsidized now that
corporate bodies pay hefty prices to maintain these premises? With a decrease of Social spaces for
creatives to thrive in, should upcoming buildings and structures cater for this need?
We need to understand why creatives are not allowed to access spaces in which they can freely
express themselves yet churches and open-air crusades are permitted the freedom to make noise.
And if this is not the case, we need to know which spaces are demarcated by the Government for
Creatives to flourish in. This happens notwithstanding the fact that both elements of society are
accorded the ‘Freedom of Expression’. The fact that creatives face stringent regulations from local
authorities makes them shy from expressing their talents. What can be done to ensure more safe
and free spaces are established for creatives? Importantly, How can we engage the Government?

The issue of talent appreciation is pertinent to the fact that Creatives are either misunderstood by
the public or the creative industry is not taken as a serious profession. This could elude from the

fact that arts is no longer an examinable subject in Kenya’s 8-4- 4 system of education. Creatives are
still grossly underpaid and if paid well, they are mainly used as tools to push agendas.

While social media is a great tool for creatives to build their brand, it has also become a tool for
creatives to rant about the business and rightly so. Recently Bwire Ebony Blak 1 ranted about her

plight as a Mombasa based artist and how creative works is not consumed. While most sympathized
with her, many didn’t see what the fuss was all about. Could this be an issue of the wrong target
market or the target market is unaware of what to consume? Should we look for other ways of
engaging the public? Should we create new markets? Are their other ways that the public could
start learning and appreciating the creative process? Where does the public interact or consume
art? Should the public come to confined formal structures to consume art?

According to UNESCO’s Creative Economy Report 2013, Kenya’s creative economy was estimated to
contributing 5.4% of Kenya’s GDP. This is a step in the right direction, however, the creative industry is

marred with challenges such as lack of an educational ecosystem that supports the industry, stringent
regulations and lack of talent appreciation, and therefore not given the attention it deserves. The twofold
trend of rapid population growth and rising youth unemployment are especially visible with 75% of the
Kenyan population below the age of 30 years with a 17.1% unemployment rate. Should the Government
tap into creating opportunities within the creative industry for these youth who, have the energy,
momentum, creative and ingenious ability to make that socio-economic shift?

So, how can we seat to solve some of these pertinent issues in the creative industry? How can we educate
the masses? How can the masses start to integrate with art?

&
nbsp;

While we can’t tackle the issue of Freedom of Expression in one sitting, we can begin to disturb the
minds by asking hard questions. Since Art is the society’s mirror and it’s meant to disturb, it can act as a

benchmark for Public engagement. We propose a public art installation on the issues around Freedom of
Expression. Issues that we seek to address are economic inequity and the need for financial inclusion for
creative works, uneven knowledge distribution as a result of lack of proper schools for creatives which is
topped by the lack of examinable art subjects in the current 8-4- 4 system, lack of talent appreciation due
to the fact that art and creative genres are considered as secondary wants and therefore not given the
limelight it deserves, stringent rules summoned by our current democratic system that make it a hostile
environment for creatives to flourish and general lack of acceptance bullied by the opinion of current
religion policies and framework.

These Seven pillars are what we think summarizes the struggles the creatives face that contributes to
Freedom of expression or lack of it in the society. These issues should not be used as answers to solving

the Freedom of Expression problem but should merely act as a catalyst to spur conversations in both the
public and Government circles. The seven pillars are:

Don’t sing it in the mountain - The county Government imposes strict rules and charge highly for

licenses. This means creatives cannot perform in the streets (unless they have licenses), We can’t put
up posters or artworks but during elections politicians are allowed to put up posters. The lack of room
for self expression within the public space could be one of the issues why the public doesn’t embrace
art after all its an “out of sight out of mind” relationship. The funny thing is it’s probably easier to get
a circumcision in town than it is to showcase art in Kenyan urban spaces. The irony to this is the fact
that the Government preaches about Youth employment and yet in the very same breath stifle
creativity with these stringent rules. The youth end up planting trees under either the “Kazi kwa
vijana” (work to the youth) Initiative or the Beautification program run by the Nairobi City County.
How does this solve long term youth unemployment?

Herein lies all dreams and hopes
- Most often than not creatives are asked to work for free or for

merger earnings. This could be because people think creativity comes easy or its ‘just a hobby’ so do
not value the work of the creative. But could this also be a direct result of knowledge distribution,
Government’s lack of commitment of the arts in schools and the fact that doctors, accountants and
engineers are held in high esteem over dancers, painters and musicians? Is this a problem of
‘processed brains’ caused by the current 8-4- 4 curriculum rewarding system?

Pass me the Envelope - If you are a creative, you almost have to give a bribe or a kickback if youneed work in corporate and media circles. Journalists are known to be handed ‘envelopes’ frompoliticians who need to push their agenda to the public. Sadly, creatives who need the platform forexposure are left high and dry when politics takes an upper hand. To get your music videos or TVcontent on air chances are you’ll have to give a few people kickbacks to get your message out. Isn’t itsad that we only celebrate our celebrities when they start getting international attention? Did LupitaNy’ongo get media attention years ago when she performed at Phoenix theatre in Nairobi or was sherecognized in her home when she made it in a foreign country? Before Akirachix was introduced atthe Global Entrepreneurship Summit, hosted by President Barrack Obama, did they ever get media
attention?

He who plays the piper calls the tune - If you survive the ‘Pass me the envelope’ phase chances areyou are a creative for hire. If this is so, more often than not you end up selling the wrong AfricanNarrative. For example; If you are a visual artist, chances are you might be roped into making replicasof poor people and villages at Maasai Market because after all this is what sells. The Civil society isalso one that pushes its agenda and since you are a “gun for hire” Chances are you will end up sellingthe story of poverty and starvation for these NGO’s to survive.

Institutionalizing the ”uninstitutionable” - Arts bill! Culture bill! Music bill! Design bill! It now seemsthat everyone seems to be crafting bills for the creative sector but how do they affect creativesespecially those starting up? Do these bills add value or are just a way of institutionalizing creativity?Can creativity be institutionalized?

The death of public spaces - Social halls no longer exist to serve its initial task. Many social hallswere used for expression and public engagement. Many of the first crop of hip hop artists emanatedfrom being spotted during talent shows in these halls, but with the change of Government policy andinsecurity; most of these halls were either closed down or repurposed. SO, what happened to thecreatives who used these spaces to rehearse and perform from? How do we as creatives access publicspaces for self expression? With the rise of high-rise buildings around the city, do kids have spacesthey could now use to imagine? Can they run around in imaginary capes and fly? Does the loss ofplaygrounds for children affect self expression?

Expression by Religion - Lego wa Maria, The Salvation Army and the Akorinos walk around town,drums in tow worshipping on Sundays around urban towns. The Mosques carry huge speakers for alland sundry. Are their restrictions placed on places of worship that cut across to the creative industry?Could creative spaces get licenses that are subsidized and easy to access? Is religious expression moreimportant than self expression? Is the Religion sector better structured and therefore able to negotiatebetter terms?

Tags:

Creatives Garage

Creatives Garage is a multi-disciplinary collective space for Creatives to network, share ideas, collaborate, learn, gain market accessibility and push boundaries. Our goal is to create a thriving eco-system that impacts investing opportunities to deliver financial and social double bottom-line returns. We work with visual artists, performing artists and tech innovators who are social change agents in the society. Creatives Garage is a registered Arts Trust based in Nairobi. It was formed in 2012 and registered in 2013.